DNAnexus Launches Novel Platform for Human Microbiome Research

Community-driven platform to advance microbiome bioinformatics and
standards through global research and collaboration

June 27, 2017 08:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--DNAnexus, Inc., the global leader in genome informatics and data
management, today announced the launch of the MOSAIC
Microbiome Platform in collaboration with Janssen Research &
Development, LLC and its Janssen
Human Microbiome Institute (JHMI). The cloud-based platform, which
is powered by DNAnexus, provides a secure environment for scientists
around the world to collaborate on research, share data and advance
methods aimed at increasing understanding of the human microbiome, while
accelerating the translation of these insights into healthcare solutions.

“Understanding
the metagenomic data associated with the microbiome is a complex and
ambitious undertaking that the DNAnexus MOSAIC Platform is well-suited
to support. We look forward to working with the global community of
scientists committed to finding new microbiome-based solutions with the
potential to transform human health.”

Affordable next-generation sequencing technologies have transformed
microbiome research, resulting in huge volumes of microbiome-generated
data that require advanced computational methods and scalable
computational power for their interpretation and analysis. MOSAIC
enables scientists to store and manage these datasets securely and
efficiently, and to customize workflows for analyses while collaborating
with other users to contribute to microbiome science and standards.

“We are proud to help build a vibrant research community inspiring open
collaboration and advancement in microbiome-based health solutions,”
said Richard Daly, Chief Executive Officer of DNAnexus. “Understanding
the metagenomic data associated with the microbiome is a complex and
ambitious undertaking that the DNAnexus MOSAIC Platform is well-suited
to support. We look forward to working with the global community of
scientists committed to finding new microbiome-based solutions with the
potential to transform human health.”

To encourage and foster global collaboration focused on advancing the
creation of new methods and standards around this emerging area of
science, a series of community challenges will be hosted through MOSAIC.
Once a challenge is launched, scientists working anywhere in the world
can contribute their tools, data, ideas and other resources. MOSAIC is
intended to serve as a virtual ecosystem and innovation accelerator for
the entire microbiome community, including academic centers, biotech and
pharmaceutical companies, as well as life science technology developers
and regulatory agencies, in order to collectively advance this rapidly
growing field.

MOSAIC, and the first microbiome challenge, will launch and open to
participants in the coming months. Those interested in joining the
MOSAIC community and participating in the challenges are encouraged to
visit www.mosaicbiome.com
to learn more. Challenges will address a variety of important topics,
including advancing strain-level microbial profiling methods of human
samples.

About DNAnexus

DNAnexus combines expertise in computing and bioinformatics to create
the global network for genomics, operating in North America, Europe,
Asia-Pacific (including China), South America, and Africa. The secure,
scalable, and collaborative DNAnexus Platform helps thousands of
researchers across a spectrum of industries – biopharmaceutical,
bioagricultural, sequencing services, clinical diagnostics, government,
and research consortia – accelerate their genomics programs globally.
For more information on DNAnexus, please visit www.dnanexus.com
or follow the company @DNAnexus.